Three suspected Islamist terrorists arrested in France

March 2, 2013

Madrid (CNN) — Three Chechens suspected of Islamist terrorist activity were arrested in France this week in a joint French-Spanish operation, Spain’s Interior Ministry said Friday.

The arrests Tuesday were a follow-up to raids last August in southern Spain when police broke up a suspected three-man terrorist cell that planned attacks in Spain and elsewhere in Europe, the ministry statement said.

The August 2012 raids, in the town of Linea de la Concepcion, on the Spanish border with the British colony Gibraltar, turned up evidence that the suspected terror cell had links in France and other European countries, the ministry said.